Latch.



R, E. JONES.

, LATCH" FILED OCT 4 1915 REN APPLICATIQN EWED MAR. 21, 1917- I 1,240,578.. Patented Sept. 18, 1917.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RICHARD E. JONES, OF HAGERSTOWN, MARYLAND. I

LATCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 18, 1917.

Application filed October 4, 1915, Serial No. 54,077. Renewed March 21, 1917. Serial No. 156,460.

T 0 ((6.4 whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RICHARD E. JONES, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hagerstown, in the county of Washington and State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Latches, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a latch designed especially for use upon heavy refrigerator doors or doors employed in connection with cold storage rooms, although the latch can be applied with advantage to various other doors which are'to be tightly closed so as to effectually seal the door opening.

Owing to the tightness with which these doors fit considerable effort is sometimes required to open them, and one of the objects of this invention is to construct a latch which will exert a pressure upon the door when closed which will tend to hold it tight, but will also aid in throwing the door open after outward movement has commenced and in which it is unnecessary for the operator to lift or move any part of the looking mechanism with one hand while pulling the door into open position with the other hand.

The invention consists in a latch member carried by the door and a pivoted spring actuated cylinder so mounted as to rotate a small distance but not make a complete revolution and containing a spring actuated bolt which has a longitudinal movement; and the invention further consists in the novel features of construction hereinafter described, pointed out in the claims, and shown in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation, the door being closed.

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged section on the line 33 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of the bolt detached.

In the drawings 1 designates a suitable plate which is secured to a door and is angled to overlap the door edge and thence bent outwardly and parallel to the plate 1 to form a latch 2. And this offset may be reversed or modified to suit different doors.

Upon the door frame or casing is mounted a plate 3 which has outstanding horizontal lugs 4 between which are pivoted a cylinder 5. In Fig. 2 I have broken away one of the lugs in order to show a torsion coil spring 6 which is placed about the pivotal point and normally concealed from view and which tends to rotate the cylinder into what will be termed open position. Said cylinder is provided on its opposite sides with bosses one of which is provided with a threaded opening 7 and the other of which is provided with a rectangular opening 8 through which works the bolt 9 the outer end of which is notched as shown at 10 to receive the latch 2. A stop 11 limits outward movement of said bolt. The bolt has a cylindrical shank 12 and said shank works loosely through a plug 13 that is threaded into the opening 7 and a strong compression coil spring 14 is placed within the cylinder and around the shank 12 to force the bolt outwardly and keep pressure on the latch 2 when the door is closed. When the door is opened the said bolt 9 is forced inwardly by the latch 2 until the center of the pivots is passed when bolt 9 is again forced outwardly by spring 14 and materially assists in the action of opening the door.

The spring 6 will hold the cylinder 5 and the bolt in the position shown in Fig. 3 when the door is open, and if the bolt is accidentally moved into the closed position shown in Fig. 2 while the door is yet open, the spring 6 will return it to open position as shown in Fig. 3 ready for the door to be closed at which time latch 2 will engage bolt 9 which will be forced inwardly and cylinder 5 will be swung or rotated. This movement will continue until the latch 2 reaches the pivotal line of the cylinder 5 and after passing this line the cylinder will continue to rotate, but the bolt 9 will move outwardly and the spring 14 will aid in forcing the door into closed position and will firmly hold it against the tendency to spring open.

When the door is opened the reverse action will take place, the bolt 9 being moved inwardly and at the same time the cylinder 5 will be rotated in the opposite direction and as soon as the latch 2 passes the pivotal line of the cylinder 5 the bolt 9 will move outwardly under pressure of spring 14 and tend to open the door.

What I claim is:

1. A locking device comprising a latch, a rotatable cylinder, said cylinder having'its axis at right angles to said latch, a bolt arranged transversely with respect to said cylinder and working therethrough, and a spring arranged within said cylinder and adapted to force said bolt outwardly through a side of the cylinder, the outer end of said bolt being notched and forming a keeper for said latch.

2. A device of the kind described eomprising a latch rigidly secured upon a door, a cylinder rotatably mounted adjacent the door, a longitudinally movable bolt carried by and at right angles to the vertical axis of the cylinder, and a spring adapted to press said bolt outwardly, said bolt being engaged by said latch at one angle when the door isin open position and at an opposite angle when closed, said bolt pressing the doorinwardly when the door is closed and pressing outwardly as the door is opened.

3. The combination with a swing door, of a latch carried thereby, a cylinder rotatably mounted on the door casing, said cylinder being in advance of the door when the latter is in closed position, and a spring pressed longitudinally movable bolt carried by said cylinder and at right angles to the axial pivotal line of the cylinder, and adapted to be engaged by said latch, such engagement moving the bolt longitudinally and at the same time rotating said cylinder.

t. In a device of the kind described, a rotatable cylinder, a spring tending to rotate said cylinder in one direction, bosses formed on opposite sides of the cylinder and provided with openings, an apertured plug threaded in one opening, a bolt working through the other opening, a shank carried by the bolt and working loosely through the aperture of the plug, a spring arranged within the cylinder and bearing respectively on said plug and said bolt, and TIHQZIIIS carried by a door or other part to be locked adapted to engage said bolt,.as and for the purpose set forth.

5. The combination with a fixed latch member carried by a swinging support, a cylinder mounted vertically and rotatably on a fixed support, a spring pressed bolt working at right angles to the axial line of said cylinder, said bolt being adapted to engage the latch member at opposite angles, and adjustable means for mounting the rear end of said bolt.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

RICHARD E. JONES.

lVitnesses L. B. R-EIGHART, JNO. T. HELLANE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. 0. 

